Coughing in dogs, as in humans, is an involuntary reflex, which is a sonorous exhalation that occurs when the mucous membranes of the lungs and respiratory tract are irritated. The main function of a cough is to cleanse the respiratory system of an irritant, whether it be a foreign object or sputum formed during a disease.
What is a cough
Dog coughing should not be neglected. Even if this is just a symptom of a cold, the animal needs timely treatment. However, it often happens that this is a sign of a more serious disease.
There are wet and dry types of cough. When wet, excess mucus occurs, which indicates acute inflammation, in which excess sputum accumulates in the bronchi. A dry cough is not accompanied by mucus separation and is often a symptom of a chronic disease.
Depending on the duration, a rare, frequent and persistent cough is distinguished . And from the force expended by the dog for coughing, it is divided into weak, strong, superficial and deep. With a painful cough, the animal attempts to suppress it. It looks like a pet's gagging. Dog cough treatment, as if choked, should be started immediately after diagnosis. Untimely initiation of procedures will aggravate a depressed state.
Causes
There can be many causes of a dog's cough. But it is clear that the appearance of such a symptom should immediately alert the owner of the animal, as this can be a signal of a serious disease.
Dog coughing begins with the following problems:
- A foreign object has entered the respiratory system.
- The dog caught an infection.
- The pleural region is filled with air or fluid.
- Sore throat.
- Infection with worms.
- Oncology.
- Diseases of the oral cavity.
- Heredity.
- The special structure of the muzzle.
- Cardiovascular diseases.
- Allergies.
Having identified the cause of the cough, only the veterinarian prescribes therapy. Do not treat the animal yourself. This can lead to tragic consequences.
Cough Disorders
A dog's cough often appears with bronchitis or pneumonia, which, in turn, are complications after infectious diseases or independent diseases. Pathogenic or conditionally pathogenic bacteria are constantly in the body of the pet, causing pneumonia when certain conditions occur. Such circumstances preceding the disease can be, for example, low immunity, hypothermia and even stress. If pneumonia is caused by pathogenic fungi, then it is very difficult to treat.
With this disease, a cough is observed moist with gurgling sounds behind the sternum. Among other things, the dog shows lethargy, decreased appetite, shortness of breath, and fever.
However, aspiration pneumonia is considered more dangerous and complex, which happens when an animal inhales chemicals or food or gastric juice gets into the lungs, which often happens with improper anesthesia. If this happens, then veterinary care should be provided immediately, otherwise the dog may die.
Cough caused by ingestion of fluid and foreign bodies
If swallowing reflexes are disturbed in a dog, foreign bodies can enter the respiratory tract. This happens with violations of the central nervous system, sore throat, or with too hasty eating of food.
The result of a foreign object getting into the larynx, trachea, bronchi and lungs of an animal can be the development of inflammatory processes of these organs and, as a result, the appearance of a cough with blood, which is paroxysmal with wheezing and suffocation. This type of cough in dogs is often accompanied by vomiting spasms and vomiting, characterized by the suddenness of occurrence.
The treatment of this type of cough is an emergency appeal to a veterinary clinic for endoscopic extraction of a foreign object from the respiratory organs. Sometimes, the removal of a large foreign body may require urgent surgical intervention. In this case, to save the life of the animal, there is a need for immediate tracheotomy with further surgery to remove the object that has got into the respiratory tract.
Cough caused by tonsillitis
In dogs, as well as in humans, tonsils located on the sides of the pharynx are part of the lymphatic system. Their inflammation is caused by a runny nose, stomatitis, infections from the external environment and internal organs.
Symptoms of a sore throat are manifested in the refusal of food, a painful cough that the dog is trying to restrain, because it causes pain. The cough of this disease is dry, the animal often swallows to relieve pain. If the inflammatory process is chronic lingering in nature, then the dog experiences vomiting as a result of reflex irritation of the vomiting receptors.
Tonsils during examination are enlarged, redness and purulent rashes are observed on them. In this case, purulent tonsillitis is often accompanied by complications, while the catarrhal form of the disease passes without complications.
Treatment begins with a thorough visual examination of the oral cavity. If there are foreign bodies, they are immediately removed and antibiotics are prescribed in order to avoid secondary infection. Stomatitis and rhinitis are cured, tartar is removed. If chronic tonsillitis is of unknown origin, then there is the possibility of removing tonsils surgically.
Nursery cough
Dog nursery cough is an acute inflammation of the tissues of the upper respiratory tract. In veterinary medicine, this disease is otherwise called infectious tracheobronchitis. The complexity of the pathology here lies in the combination of many pathogens, including viral and bacterial microorganisms. Similar symptoms are observed when animals are infected with some parasites, among which, for example, there may be pulmonary helminths.
However, most often aviary cough in dogs is caused by an etiology of an infectious nature. The most common pathogens are:
- parainfluenza;
- Bordetella bronchisepsis;
- second type of canine adenovirus;
- reovirus (canine herpes virus).
But still, mainly the causative agent of nursery cough in a dog is the parainfluenza virus. With good immunity and physical condition of the pet, the disease caused by this agent does not last more than a week. A multivalent vaccine against infectious tracheobronchitis can provide good protection against this pathology.
The most common bacterial pathogen is bordetella bronchisepsis. Here, the incubation period lasts from 2 to 14 days, and the disease itself, if no complications are observed, proceeds within 10 days. It should be borne in mind that a recovered animal can be a carrier of infection for about 16 weeks. For humans, this pathogen is not dangerous.
In infectious tracheobronchitis, parainfluenza and bordetella have a combined effect on the dog's body. The disease lasts for 14-20 days. It is very fortunate that coughing of kennels in dogs can now be prevented with vaccination.
Symptoms
The nursery cough in dogs with a mild form of the disease is accompanied by the following symptoms:
- Spasmodic cough. When listening, extraneous sounds may not be observed, however, if infection occurs a second time, wheezing may occur.
- The temperature is slightly elevated. The acute stage of the disease disappears in about three days, but the cough persists for up to 3 weeks.
- Thirst slightly increased. In this case, the appetite is maintained. In general, the animal behaves as healthy, the only difference is the presence of a cough.
However, with a more severe course of the disease, the symptoms of coughing in dogs are aggravated by the fact that spastic paroxysmal cough is accompanied by vomiting, intermittent fever may occur, the pet exhibits apathetic behavior and lack of appetite, often drinks.
Diagnostics
To understand how to treat a dog's cough, it is necessary to correctly diagnose the disease. To do this:
- Conduct a series of laboratory tests to rule out other possible causes of the dog’s depression.
- Veterinarians strongly recommend x-ray and ultrasound examinations of the chest of the dog, which will show the severity of the disease.
- Along with this, it is necessary to remove a sample of material from the bronchi in order to determine the type of pathogen, which is a very important point in the appointment of an optimal therapy.
Qualitative treatment of coughing in a dog depends on the reliable determination of pathogens, which may be several at the same time.
Treatment
When conducting therapy, it is important to exclude re-infection, so as not to aggravate the symptoms and not provoke complications. When treating a nursery cough in dogs, it is necessary to provide the sick animal with complete rest, good nutrition and as much as possible to protect the pet from stress.
The use of antibiotics should be allowed only with the secondary occurrence of a bacterial infection. In order to reduce the likelihood of chronic bronchitis and significantly reduce the resulting inflammation, specialists prescribe corticosteroids.
When treating dogs for coughing, nurseries often prescribe medications containing codeine. But this is in cases when spastic coughing attacks are protracted. In mild cases, with the help of an ordinary nebulizer, a pet can be aerosolized with saline, which dilutes the secretion in the bronchi and improves expectoration of sputum.
The effectiveness of treatment for nursing cough will occur if the veterinarian prescribes bronchodilators, such as Albuterol and Terbutaline, along with corticosteroids. Antibiotics of the cyclosporin group will also help in the treatment of the described disease.
Prevention
Kennel coughing in dogs can be prevented if preventive measures are followed. If this disease occurs in the region, quarantine must be entered immediately. In this case, the pet is better to put an autoimmune serum, with which you can prevent the development of the disease.
However, of course, the most effective preventive measure will be timely vaccination of the animal with all recommended vaccines against respiratory diseases.
If a dog suddenly has coughing attacks, then it is necessary to immediately take her to the veterinarian, since timely treatment will stop the symptoms of the disease within a couple of days, preventing them from developing into more severe forms.
Cough for heart disease
In addition to coughing associated with respiratory diseases, there is also a heart cough in dogs, which is a pronounced sign of cardiac disease. Such as:
- heart failure;
- cardiosclerosis;
- myocardial infarction;
- arterial hypertension;
- some types of cardiac helminthiases.
Due to the existing disorders, the heart cannot pump blood as it should, so there is stagnation in the lungs and a fluid called effusion appears, which irritates the receptors. At the same time, the heart muscle increases in size and presses on the trachea, blocking the access of oxygen and provoking coughing attacks. With a strong heart cough, the dog has a blue gum. Such a disease for a long time (from 6 to 8 months) proceeds in a latent form, which complicates timely diagnosis.
Most often, dogs of large breeds weighing more than 7 kg suffer from heart cough, their muscle mass is increased, but their heart is of normal size. Until some point, it copes with the functions assigned to it, until high loads begin to incapacitate the organ, which is the reason for the development of pathology.
Signs of Heart Cough
To maintain the health of the pet at an uncritical level, it is necessary to closely monitor its behavior. Signs that should alert the owner:
- The dog ceases to be active, walks and games become uninteresting to her.
- Even with light exertion, breathing becomes heavy and intermittent.
- The cough becomes deaf and uterine, as well as longer.
- Sputum is absent.
- In severe cases, spotting may appear instead of sputum.
- The cough is like a dog choking and cannot cough.
- Shortness of breath appeared.
For the accuracy of diagnosis, it is necessary to do an ultrasound of the heart using an apparatus with a Doppler in order to assess the level of blood circulation and correctly determine the pathology.
Heart Cough Treatment
Treatment of coughing in a dog that occurs with cardiac pathologies, in no case should be carried out independently. Taking antitussive drugs without proper examination will not lead to the recovery of the pet, but only delay the precious time.
Based on the results of the examination, as well as on the symptoms of coughing in dogs, treatment is prescribed only by a specialist veterinarian. In cases of heart problems, the cough is not directly treated, but complex therapy is carried out aimed at eliminating the arising pathologies. The package of measures includes:
- the use of mucolytic drugs that relieve smooth muscle spasms;
- life-long administration of cardiac glycosides;
- diuretics to rule out pulmonary edema;
- vitamin complex;
- dieting.
If an acute heart attack occurs, subcutaneous administration of camphor, caffeine is allowed, and intramuscularly - "Cordiamine", "Sulfocamphocaine". The owner will need a restriction for the pet's physical exertion, a ban on walking in hot weather or severe frosts, and the exclusion of fatty foods from the diet.
Allergic cough
Cases of allergies in dogs are as common as in humans. More than others, representatives of exotic breeds are predisposed to various allergies, in which the immunity is quite low. This type of cough can cause chemicals, food, flowering plants.
The most common allergens that cause cough are as follows:
- pollen;
- dust;
- household chemicals;
- medical preparations;
- synthetics;
- plastic of inadequate quality;
- air fresheners and deodorants;
- cigarette smoke;
- garden chemicals;
- flea remedies.
Dog cough caused by allergies is usually suffocating and dry. When reacting to pollen, it intensifies after walking in nature. However, allergies often have other symptoms and complications. For instance:
- lacrimation
- eye irritation and redness;
- cyanosis of the gums;
- swelling of the limbs and muzzle;
- otitis and bronchitis;
- skin rashes and itching.
It is useless to treat an allergic cough without finding out its root cause. That is, it is necessary to protect the dog from the allergen, otherwise the cough will endlessly return, overgrown with complications. In order to permanently rid the animal of suffocating effects, it is necessary to undergo a full veterinary examination with it and pass a test to determine the allergen.
If an allergic cough is caused by poor quality food or a new bowl of poor plastic, then you just need to change the diet and throw out the dishes to stop the exposure to the allergen. However, it is very difficult to protect the dog from irritants such as dust or pollen from plants. In this case, only regular intake of correctly selected antihistamines will help.
If a dog’s suffocating coughing fit unexpectedly, then you can give the animal “Suprastin” by calculating the dosage in proportion to the weight. But in the near future, you must definitely consult a specialist.
It is by no means impossible to independently treat an allergy or, worse, to ignore its manifestations. It is necessary to take the pet immediately to the veterinary clinic for a detailed examination and appointment of therapy. Incorrectly selected drugs for allergies lead to hormonal disorders and endocrine pathologies. In addition, therapy includes not only taking medications, but also a proper diet, parallel use of drugs to prevent complications in the form of otitis media, bronchitis and dermatitis.
It is impossible to completely cure an allergy in a dog. However, you can greatly reduce its manifestations and eliminate complications, making, thus, the life of the pet quite comfortable.